


It's Worth It

by NewEyes



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - His Dark Materials, Cave in, M/M, Sharing Body Heat, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-27 00:24:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5026540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewEyes/pseuds/NewEyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Fantastic. Wonderful move, Allen," Snart said through gritted teeth. He was slumped against the wall of ice. Maera slowly padded over and laid her head on his shoulder.</p><p>"You think this is my fault? You're the one who picked this location for your little escapade! I would have been quite happy to stay in Central City, where it's warm and, you know, there is no snow! But you just had to branch out." </p><p>A His Dark Materials AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Worth It

The moment he landed in the street that night, Barry screamed. He clutched at his chest, it felt like half of his heart had been torn out, his legs gave way and he fell to his knees and wept. He looked around desperately for Korrel but for the first time in his life she wasn't there. After what felt like hours the pain started to dim and he struggled to his feet. He stumbled back to the house and with every step he took dread started to settle in his stomach like a weight. Something terrible had happened, he knew it.

*

Nobody knew that Barry could separate from Korrel. He never used the ability and never wanted to, it was a reminder of one of the worst nights of his life. Everybody thought his father was the murderer and the figures in lightning were just the imagination of a frightened young boy. He was a good kid, honest and truthful but still, no-one believed him. Not Joe, not Iris, not the judge, none of the kids in school. Why should he trust them with his secrets in return?

*

"Fantastic. Wonderful move, Allen," Snart said through gritted teeth. He was slumped against the wall of ice. Maera slowly padded over and laid her head on his shoulder.

"You think this is my fault? You're the one who picked this location for your little escapade! I would have been quite happy to stay in Central City, where it's warm and, you know, there's no snow! But you just had to branch out." He couldn't believe Cold would try to pin this one on him. "I know it's in your name, yes, it's cold here, but did you really have to choose a monastery on top of a mountain for your next heist? What happened to staying in Central City?" Barry paced around the small area they were stuck in, breath visible in the cold air. Snow on the ground, snow on the cave walls, snow everywhere. Captain Cold didn't inspire the same hatred in him as some of his other enemies but God, the man was infuriating.

"Some of the art there-," Len broke off with a gasp, clutching his side. Barry sat down beside him and Korrel poked her head out the top of his suit. She looked at Len closely.

"You're hurt," she said.

"Hit my side on the way down," he sighed. "Nice to meet you, though. I don't think we've met, you're always hiding in his suit." Korrel ignored him. "You've met Maera of course, she can't exactly hideaway easily." Maera lifted her head from where it was now resting in Len's lap.

"Nice to make your acquaintance."

"I'm going to have a look at your side," Barry said, and opened the parka carefully and Snart sucked in a breath harshly as he pealed back the shirt. Shit. There was a lot of blood. His hands came away wet, red.

"Well, as much as I enjoy the cold, how about you do your vibrating or phasing or whatever it is you do and get out of here," Len asked. Barry shook his head.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I was looking at the walls earlier, I don't think it's stable enough for me to try something like that. I have no idea how much snow is above us. And there isn't really enough room for me get up to any decent speed. Caitlin and Cisco are always tracking me, they'll find us."

"We've already been down here a while, if they were going to find us, they would have," Maera said. Len leant his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, one hand deep in her fur. Korrel scampered back over to Barry.

"I'm going to go," she whispered to him. "I can fit through those gaps, I'll find my way to the surface. Somebody will be looking for us, I can help them find you." Barry shook his head.

"No, it's too dangerous. What if everything collapses? You'll be crushed?"

"If I don't he might not make it," she said close to his ear. "Barry. You know it's the right thing to do. You know I have to do this." Barry felt a little sick, he really didn't want to do this but in his heart he knew Korrel was right.

"You're right." He struggled to make the words come out. "Go." Korrel climbed off his shoulder and ran over to a small gap between the ice and rocks. She turned back briefly to look at Barry, then she ran into the small tunnel until Barry could no longer see her in the blackness. Barry felt like shit, and he slumped down so he was sitting next to Cold on the floor. When he looked over, both Len and Maera were staring over at him curiously.

"She's going to go to the surface to see if she can see anything," Barry said.

"I thought I knew everything about you." Barry raised an eyebrow and Len coughed. "I make sure I know everything there is to know about my enemies, it's the only way to stay ahead when so many people have powers. But I never knew you two could separate. What...how..." Barry wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Captain Cold, but what the hell, if it helped keep Len distracted from the pain and awake...

"Not by choice. You know, when I was a kid, the Reverse Flash killed my Mom? My other self got me out of there but he left Korrel behind. I don't know why he would do that. But it separated us."

Maera looked over in horror and lifted up her head to look at him. "But you were only a little boy, most witches do it over a long period of time, not just in a moment. It must have been painful."

"Yeah," Barry said hoarsely.

"And you didn't report it, I didn't see it mentioned in any police reports?"

Barry shook his head. That period of his life had been tough, there was no doubt about it. "My Mom was dead. Nobody believed me. It was hard to trust people, and I didn't want to be apart from Korrel anyway, so I never used it."

"Well, he'd never say it so I'll say it for him, thank you for using your ability to help us."

"That's okay," Barry mumbled. He looked over at Len, who looked like he was almost drifting off. "Hey," he nudged Len in the shoulder. "Stay awake." Len started a little. His face was wan now, and he was shivering a little.

"Are you cold?" Len started to smile but Barry interrupted before he could say anything. "Yes, I know, puns, but I'm serious. Is your coat not keeping you warm?"

"I bought it in a normal store, not somewhere designed with snow and mountains in mind. Otherwise I'd bake in it when running around."

"I can help you stay warm."

Len snorted. "By sharing body heat? You're a scientist, you know it doesn't work like that." Barry blushed, he did find the man attractive, but he was clearly hurt right now.

"You're forgetting my powers. I can move very fast and generate heat. Nothing too vigorous, I don't want to bring the place down, but if I sit close to you and vibrate I should be able to get you warmer." Len huffed out a laugh, and then started coughing. When he took his hand away from his mouth, Barry spotted red. Blood.

"So you're going to be my own personal vibrator, kid?" He shook his head. "Well, give it a go."

Barry moved closer, and then zipped up the parka around them both. He had them arranged so that Len was sitting in Barry's lap, and then Barry started vibrating behind him. Len sighed and laid his head back on Barry's shoulder. Maera had arranged herself so she still had her head in Len's lap, and she was laughing.

"What's funny?" Barry asked.

"Oh, just this whole situation," she said. "Len will be kicking himself later, he had a young hot vibrating brunet so close to him and wasn't in the mood to enjoy it."

"Shut it." Len mumbled back. She was still laughing softly.

"So, what is Korrel anyway? I mean, me, wolf, you probably picked that up already. But she's got to be a...field mouse?"

"Yeah." Barry tried his best not to get defensive. When she settled people had laughed and teased him for it, a lot. Nothing cool, like a lion or eagle, nothing normal like a dog or a cat, but something just kind of small and wimpy.

"I did wonder about your daemon, this actually makes sense," Len murmured.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, wild mice are kind of wiry, they run fast, depend on their speed. They can be smart too."

"Huh. I never thought of it like that." Barry looked down at Len's head. He felt the strangest temptation to brush his fingers through the man's short hair, he resisted but oh man, he really wanted to. They were silent for a bit, the only sound their breathing, Len didn't sound good and Barry could see red at his mouth. He felt like crying.

"You're still awake," he asked.

"Yeah," Len breathed out, but what worried Barry was that Maera didn't answer, or even lift her head.

"It's not your fault," Len said suddenly.

"What?" Barry almost stopped vibrating.

"If I die down here, it's not your fault. You're the type of guy that could let something like this just eat them up on the inside. But you shouldn't. You tried your best, I know what separating from Korrel must have cost you, and you did it for us. We're not good people, we've hurt people and killed people. Don't feel too bad for too long."

"You're not going to die."

"Everybody dies sometime, kid," Len said, and then went quiet again. Barry felt a bolt of dread run through him, he started shaking Len. Maera was still there though, so he wasn't quite gone yet. That was the only thing that held Barry back from full blown panic. In the midst of all this, he heard rumbling and looked up. The ceiling began to cave in, big chunks falling down around him, but through all of that, he could see the blue sky.

Barry moved fast. He gathered Len in his arms and ran up the falling chunks of ice until he was finally standing outside, in the sun. He saw Cisco and Caitlin and Korrel. There was a paramedic waiting nearby. Also, a fair few monks who had obviously seen them fight and fall. Barry didn't slow down. He deposited Len with them, then it was back into the darkness. Maera was still lying on the ground. Barry knew the taboo of course, but if she got hit by one of the chunks of ice and rock, that would be it. So he scooped her up in his arms, ignoring the warmth that ran through his whole body. He ran up the falling blocks again, until he was finally outside.

He allowed time to go back to normal. Cisco and Caitlin immediately saw Len's condition and in under a minute he was hooked up to an IV, about to be transported helicopter. Len's eyes opened, and he looked over at Barry. Barry felt a jolt of something go through his body. He looked down at the wolf in his arms and gently set her down. She ran over to Len and hopped up into the helicopter, curling up beside him. Barry didn't stop looking until the helicopter was just a dim speck in the distance.

*

"Not so fast Captain Cold!" Before he knew it, Len was pinned up against the hospital wall.

"Oh, come on Barry. You didn't expect me to just let them take me to prison after I was better?" Len was outside in his hospital gown, in the process of sneaking away. Maera stood next to him.

"Well...."

"You send us to prison, we'll still break out it would just take a little bit more planning, maybe some tattoos," Maera said. Barry thought about it, and relaxed his grip slightly.

"Fine. But no heists for a while! You're still healing."

"Yes, nurse," Len grumbled. Maera snorted.

"Now that I would like to see, him in a nurse's outfit."

Barry blushed, and looked over at Len. They looked at each other heatedly and Korrel poked her head out of the top of his suit.

"God, leave it to you two and you'd never get anywhere." She ran down Barry's arm and onto Len, perching herself on his shoulder, curling up in his neck. Maera walked over and nuzzled at Barry's fingers. An incredible feeling of warmth that spread through him radiating out from the place where his fingers touched her fur. He couldn't help but smile, and from the look on Len's face, he felt the same. It was the most natural thing in the world to lean in and kiss.

*

Barry looked down at his younger self, frozen in time, watching the fight. He gently lifted Korrel from the boy's shoulder and set her down on the floor. Then he ran with his younger self in his arms, far away from Thawne and into the street. Barry watched in sympathy from a distance as young Barry fell to his knees.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered quietly. He wanted to walk over and give young Barry a hug. "It's tough. But you're strong, and you can handle it. The ability will save the life of the man I love. This pain right now?"

"It's worth it, I promise you, it's worth it."

**Author's Note:**

> So I was trying to decide between writing a 'trapped together in the cold' fic or a His Dark Materials AU. So I just wrote them both in the same fic.
> 
> My Tumblr: http://xxxneweyesxxx.tumblr.com/
> 
> Interested in a ColdFlash Secret Santa Exchange? http://coldflashsecretsanta.tumblr.com/


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